Cabinet drawer suspension system

ABSTRACT

A drawer suspension system including a pair of roller mounting hinged leaves and a pair of drawer mounted rollers, which cooperate with a cabinet mounted trackway and guide tracks to provide cantilever support for the drawer in open position.

Unlted States Patent 1191 [111 3,836,223 Signore Sept. 17, 1974 [54] CABINET DRAWER SUSPENSION SYSTEM 906,264 12/1908 MCKinlay 312 341 R 3,106,010 10/1963 M 11 16/189 [75] Invent: James Slgnore, Elhwttvlue, 3,129,988 4/1964 K:1 z :lberger 312/347 x 73 Assigneez AVM Corporation, Jamestown 3,323,853 6/1967 Stark 312/347 X Primary Examiner-Paul R. Gilliam [22] Ffled' Oct. 1972 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Bean & Bean 21 Appl. No.: 298,798

52 us. Cl ..'3'12/350, 312/334, 312/341 [57] ABSTRACT 1 A471) A47b 95/00 A drawer suspension system including a pair of roller [58] Field of Search 312/307, 330-334, mountin hinged leave and a pair of drawer mounted rollers, which cooperate with a cabinet mounted trackway and guide tracks to provide cantilever sup- 1 References Clted port for the drawer in open' position. UNITED STATES PATENTS 159,570 2/1875 Fox 312/334 4 Chums 10 Draw F'gures 1 I SUSPENSION SYSTEM I SUMMARY OF'TI-IE INVENTION r r The pres'ent invention broadly relates to improve-. meritsfin drawer suspension devices of the type affording cantilever support for the'drawer when in open position. v I t I The drawer suspension device of the present invencarried byfthe sides of the drawer adjacent its'r'earcorner edges for rolling engagement with drawer supporting guide rails; and a'curved trackway for cooperating with certain of the leaf mounted rollers to control opening and closing movements of the leaves. Others of the leaf mounted rollers cooperate with the drawer carried rollers-to provide a cantilever support for the drawer when in open position.

t ion generally includes a pairjof roller mounting leaves; fw hi chare hingedly connected tothe drawer adjacent "rear corner edges thereof; a pair of-rollers, which-are More specifically, each leaf is provided with a first V rollerfwhich is rotatable about a vertical axisand var-" I ranged to engage with the curved trackway, and a sec'--. ond roller,-which is rotatable about a horizontal axis and cooperates with an associated drawer mounted Irolle r and guide rail to provide a cantilever support forithe drawer. A pair of cabinet mounted rollers serves to support the frontof the drawer while in closed position and may serve as abutments for the drawer mounted rollers in orderto define the full open positipn of the drawer.

' In a preferred formof the present invention, spring devices are employed to bias the leaves finl'that is, towards their folded'or drawer closed position. This construction serves to render the drawer self closing aften;

the drawer has been closed beyond that point necessary-- to place the first rollers in engagement with the curved:

trackway, and to prevent or reduce racking or yaw- I I ing of the draweras it moves in and out of the cabinet.

The present invention additionally features a'novel drawer construction,-wherein hinge part halves areintegrally formed on opposite ends of the drawer rear.

wall and the leaves, whereby to permit the leaves to be I hingedly secured to the ,drawer by the simple operation of inserting a pair of hinge pins through associated ones of the hinge part halves. 1

While the present invention is primarily intended for. 3 3- use as a suspension for filing cabinetdrawe'rs, it will be readily appreciated that .the present construction has-I" utility whenever it. is-desired to support a drawer or other supporting platform during movement relative to a supporting frame from aclosed or retracted position, wherein front and rear ends of the drawer are readily supported, to an open or extended position, wherein the weight of the drawer or articles supported thereby tends to tilt the front or extended end'of the drawer downwardly relative to the frame. Thus, the terms cabinet and drawer, when employed in the following detailed description and appended claims, are meant to include the terms frame and platform, respectively, as well as equilivent structures.

44 in FIG. 2; I i

FIG. 5 is a sectional view;takengenerally:along;line .55inFIG.'3; 1

DRAWINGS The nature and-mode of the present invention will now be more fully .described'in the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the suspension device'of the present invention in combination with a cabinet and drawer, with parts broken away for purposes of clarity; I I

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken through the rear wall? of the drawer and showing one leaf device extended rearwardly of the drawer;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the FIG. 1 and-illustrating. the relative placement of: parts during successive stages of drawer opening movements;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken generallyalong-line FIG. 6 is a sectionalview tak n "FIG 7 isan enlarged view of the areadesignated: as

F G-'w G- 3. Y P

FIG. 8 isa fragmentary, explodedfperspectii/e'view" illustrating a preferredmode of attaching-a leaf device to a drawer; l

FIG. 9]isa'fragnientaryperspectiveIview illustrating" J- an;'alter'riative. form of the present invention;and

' FIG.'l0isafragmentaryperspectiveviewillustrating "another' alternative form ofthepres'eht invention- DETA 'B DESQM QN i v toured todefine-lengthwise extending support ledges or ribs 20 ,'-and"cabinet 14 may include in part side and l i rear walls 22 and 24, respectively. While drawer l2 and gcabinet 14 may be of any conventional construction,"a-I- preferred drawer rear wall' design will hereinafter be de'seribed.

,Mo're spe'cifically, the of the suspenwsion systemincludes a pair of horizontally disposed guide tracks 26, which are suitably fixed to {cabinet-J walls '22 and formed with lower and upper flanges'26a and 26b,- respectively; a first pair of drawer supporting: 1,; r'oller s'28,'which are carried in axial alignment adjacent the rear ends of drawer side-walls 18;,a secondpairpf I 'axially'align'ed drawer supporting rollers 30,-which'are fixed to cabinet walls 22 adjacent theforward endsof guide tracks 26; a pairof leaf devices'32, which are mounted adjacent the r'earcomer' edges of drawer 12 by a pair of hinge devices 34 for pivotal movements about parallel vertically disposed axes; and a cabinet mounted guide trackway generally designated as 36. As will be apparent, rollers 28 bear downwardly against the lower or bottom flange 26a of guide tracks 26 (FIG. 2) and the downwardly facing surfaces of ledges 20 rest on rollers 30 (FIGS. 2 and :5) in order to support structure shown in aia ar yasag; line drawer 12 relative to cabinet 14, while the drawer i's closed andat least during an initial portion of its travel towards fully open position.

Trackway 36 is best shown in FIGS.' 1 and 3. ,as in cluding a rear or main portion 38, which defines a gen- Herall'y planar surface 40 arranged to lie flush with or slightly; below" the upwardly facing surfaces, of guide track lower or bottom-flanges 26a and an upwardly opening arcuateguide, track 42, which is essentially semi-circular when viewed in plan. Trackway 36 addi- (tionally includes forward portions-inthe form of extenv sion trackways'44, which connect with opposite ends of guide track42 and extend forwar'dlytherefrom in parv allellrelationship'with channels 26. Guide track 42 is I J; bounded by inner and outer arcu'ate guide flanges 42a and 42b, respectively and'a connecting bottom flange 42c, whereas extension trackways 44-are each bounded by inner and outer guide flanges 44a and 44b,.respectively, and a connecting bottomflange 44c. Construction may be facilitated, if desired, by forming extension trackways 44 integrally with guide tracks 26, as indi-,

cated in FIG. 4. i

Reference is nowv made particularly to FIGS. 1-4, wherein each of leaf devices 32 is shownas including a tapered channel member formed from sheet metal to define a main upstanding flange portion 46a and upper and lower reinforcing flanges 46b and 460, respectively;' and first and second follower'members, which are'in the formv of follower rollers 48 and 50 joumaled adjacent the-free swinging ends of flanges 46c and 46a for rotation'about essentially vertically and horizontally disposed axes, respectively.

In a preferred drawer construction, best shown in FIGS. 2, 7 and 8, rear wall 17 is of a box or pan'shaped configuration including a recessed centralportion 17a'- bounded by rearwardly extending top,.bottom and end reinforcing flanges l7b 17d; flanges 17c and 17d being suitably fixed to bottom and side walls'19 and 18 respectively. By recessing central portion 17a, by arranging leaf devicelower flanges 46c'below the level. of

drawer bottom wall 19 and by forming-leaf devices 32 made to FIG. 3, wherein the drawer is shown in a plurality of positions including a first or fully closed phantom-line position designated at 12a; a second or parversely of the rear of the drawer; their associated followers 48 being biased by springdevices 34d into engagement with inner flanges 42a of guide track 42 adja I cent a mid-point thereof, while their follower rollers 50 I surface 40. s

As the drawer is'hopened, follower rolle'rs 48 are forced to move apart towardsthe ends of guide track 42 by-engagement-With inner flanges 42a" whereby to progressively swing leaf'devices-apart into an open or second position in whichthey extendlrearwardly of the drawer in a parallel relationship -and -their associated merely rest onlor spaced'slightly above upper trackway follower rollers 50 are. arrangedverticallyintermediate guide flanges 26a and 26b and t heir associated follower rollers 48 are disposed adjacent thej' junction of the of a length less than about one half the width of the drawer rear wall, theleaf devices may be folded into a first or drawer fully closed position thereof,-wher ein,.' they nest within and extend transversely of thelrear of drawer 12 as best shown in FIG. 1. Also inaccordance with the preferred drawer construction, one hinge part of each of hinge devices 34 is defined by bending end flanges 17d to form a plurality of hinge knuckles 34a, as best shownin FIGS. 2, 7 and 8. Another hinge part of each of hingedevices 34 is defined by bending the enlarged end of each of leaf device main flanges 46a to inner flanges'42a and 44a, as shown in full linejin FIG 3. At this point of I drawer Y opening movement, the. v, drawer is still'normally supportedby rollers 28 and 30," jl, but in that rollers 30 now engage with'the drawer side wall ledges 20 adjacent'to or rearwardly of mid-points thereof, there may bea-- tendency for the drawer to tilt forward about rollers 30 if heavy drawer contents are arranged adjacent the front of the drawer In accordance with the present invention, tilting movement of the drawer, during opening movements thereof from its intermediate position towards and into its' fully opened position, is effectively prevented by engagement of follower rollers with the lower surface .of'upper guide I flanges 26a adjacent mid-points of guide tracks-26. The 1 fully open position of the drawer may be conveniently i ,define clby engagement of rollers 28 with rollers 30; it being noted from FIG. 2 that even in this'position roller's SOare spaced rearwardly of rollers 30 to'provide form a plurality of hinge knuckles 34b. The forming of the respective hinge parts integrally with the leafdevices and the drawer rear wall, greatly facilitates fabri-j cation procedures, since the leaf devices may be assembled on the drawer by merely passing hinge pins 34c downwardly through hinge jknuckles 34a and 34b. Hinge devices 34 also preferably include coil spring devices 34d, which engage with stops 342 and 34f formed on leaf device upper flange 46d and rear wall top flange 17b, respectively, for the purposeof normally biasing the leaf devices towards one another into engagement with the relatively inner guide flanges 42aj and- 44a of guide track 42 and guide track extension 44.

To facilitate understanding of the mode of operation of the present invention, specific reference is now construction excessive tilting of the drawer in'its'intermediate position would be arrested by movement of drawer mounted rollers 28into engagement with- -the. 7 lower surfaces of upper flanges 26b adjacent to'orforaneffective cantilever support for the drawer andits contents; While; unnecessary for most drawer installa tions, it would'of course? be possible to also provide a' curved trackway above surface 40 for engagement by rollers 50 in order to prevent'drawer tilting movements even before the drawer has been'movedoutwardly into: its intermediate position.

As by way of comparison,-in a conventional drawer wardly of mid-points of guide tracks 26. However, during further opening movement of the drawer, the distance between rollers 28 and 30 .decreases until some point is reached before the door=is fully opened at which the rollers are unable to effectively supportthe drawer. Thus, it will be seen that the present suspension system permits a drawer to be opened through a greater distance than that allowed bya conventional system by an amount which essentially corresponds to the length of the leaf devices, that is, about one-half of the width of the drawer. Also, it will be understood that the utilization of spring devices 34d to bias rollers 48 into engagement with guide surfaces 42a and 44a tends to prevent or reduce racking or yawing of the drawer, during all opening and closing movements thereof, and that after the drawer has been moved inwardly past its intermediate position spring device 34d tends to bias the drawer into fully closed position.

FIG. 9 illustrates a modified, heavy duty leaf device design 32, which incorporates an extra follower roller 50 arranged to bear upwardly against the lower surface of a lower flange 26a of a guide track 26 associated with a vertically adjacent drawer, not shown, or in the case of a top drawer, against the inner surface of top wall of a cabinet, also not shown. As a result, loads are divided between rollers 50 and 50' and guide tracks 26 and 26. If desired, rollers 50 could also be arranged to bear upwardly against the trackway associated with a vertically adjacent drawer in order to permit the leaf devices to oppose drawer tilting movements before the drawer has been opened into its intermediate position.

FIG. 10 illustrates another form of the present invention, wherein leaf devices 32" each have a length in excess of one-half the width of the drawer with a view to providing an even more effective cantilever support for the drawer. Leaf devices 32 may be swung into essentially parallel overlapping relationship when the drawer is fully closed, by merely arranging their associated hinge devices 34' in a rearwardly staggered relationship. With this construction, it would of course be necessary to modify the previously described trackway in order to accommodate follower rollers 48' during swinging movements of the leaf devices.

I claim:

1. In a cabinet construction, the combination comprising:

a cabinet frame defining an opening;

a drawer;

a pair of spaced horizontally elongated guide tracks carried by said frame to extend rearwardly within said frame from adjacent opposite sides of said opening, said guide tracks having vertically spaced upper and lower guide flanges;

a first pair of drawer supporting rollers fixed to opposite sides of said drawer in axial alignment and adjacent a rear end thereof, said rollers of said first pair being arranged to bear downwardly one against each of said lower flanges;

a pair of leaf devices hingedly secured to said drawer one adjacent each rear end comer thereof for pivotal movements in opposite directions about parallel vertically disposed axes between first and second positions, each said leaf device carrying first and second follower rollers, each of said first follower rollers being mounted for rotation about a vertically disposed axis, each of said second follower rollers being mounted for rotation about a horizontally disposed axis and arranged to bear upwardly against one of said upper flanges when said leaf devices are in said second position for thereafter constraining forward and downward tilting of said drawer;

horizontally disposed trackway means fixed to said frame and cooperating with said first follower rollers for pivoting said leaf devices between said first position in which said leaf devices are disposed to extend transversely of said drawer when in closed position and said second position in which said leaf devices are disposed to extend rearwardly of said drawer when in at least partially open position, said first follower rollers being disposed adjacent a midpoint of said trackway means when said drawer is in said closed position and being moved apart towards opposite ends of said trackway means upon opening of said drawer into said partially open position, said trackway means additionally defining a pair of extension trackways extending forwardly one from each of said opposite ends parallel to said guide tracks for guidingly receiving said first follower rollers whereby to constrain said leaf devices in said second position thereof during continued opening movement of said drawer beyond said partially open position; and

further means for supporting portions of said drawer forwardly of said rear end thereof relative to said frame at least during opening movements of said drawer occasioning movement of said leaf devices from said first to said second position thereof, said further means including a second pair of drawer supporting rollers carried by said frame in axial alignment adjacent forwardly extendingends of said guide tracks for engagement with said drawer, and the rollers of said first and second pairs being aligned in the direction of drawer movements, whereby the extent of said continued opening movement of said drawer beyond said partially open position is determined by engagement of the rollers of said first pair with the rollers of said second pair.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein each said leaf device includes spring means tending to bias its associated leaf device from said second into said first position thereof.

3. A cabinet construction according to claim 1, wherein said drawer includes side, bottom, front and rear walls, at least said rear walls being formed separately of the other of said walls and being fixed adjacent horizontally opposite ends thereof at least to said side walls adjacent rear ends thereof, said leaf devices being hingedly secured to said drawer by a pair of hinge means each including a first hinge part formed integrally with one of said opposite ends of said rear wall, second hinge part formed integrally with one of said leaf devices and hinge pin for joining said first and second hinge parts, and each of said hinge means carries a coil spring tending to bias its associated leaf device from said second into said first position thereof.

4. In a cabinet construction, in combination comprising:

a cabinet frame defining an opening;

a drawer, said drawer having downwardly facing support ledges extending outwardly and lengthwise of its opposite side walls;

a pair of spaced horizontally elongated guide tracks carried by said frame to extend rearwardly within said frame from adjacent opposite sides of said opening, said guide tracks being of U-shaped configuration and having vertically spaced upper and lower guide flanges;

a first pair of drawer supporting rollers fixed to opposite sides of said drawer in axial alignment and adjacenta rear end thereof, said rollers of said first pair being arranged to bear downwardly one against each of said lower flanges;

a pair of leaf devices hingedly secured to said drawer one adjacent each rear end comer thereof for pivotal movements in opposite directions about parallel vertically disposed axes between first and second positions, each said leaf devices carrying first and second followers, said second followers being second follower rollers mounted for rotation about a horizontally disposed axis and arranged to bear upwardly against one of said upper flanges when said leaf devices are in said second position for thereafter constraining forward and downward tilting of said drawer;

horizontally disposed trackway means fixed to said frame and cooperating with said first followers for pivoting said leaf devices between said first position in which said leaf devices are disposed to extend transversely of said drawer when in closed position and said second position in which said leaf devices are disposed to extend rearwardly of said drawer when in at least partially open position, said first followers being disposed adjacent a mid-point of said trackway means when said drawer is in said closed position and being moved apart towards opposite ends of said trackway means upon opening of said drawer into said partially open position, said trackway means additionally defining a pair of extension trackways extending forwardly one from each of said opposite ends parallel to said guide tracks for guidingly receiving said first followers whereby to constrain said leaf devices in said second position thereof during continued opening movement of said drawer beyond said partially open position;

a second pair of drawer supporting rollers carried by spring means tending to continuously bias said leaf devices from said second position into said first position thereof, whereby said first followers are caused to bear against said trackway means including said extension trackways to constrain yawing of said drawer during opening and closing movements thereof and to bias said drawer towards closed position for positions thereof intermediate said closed position and said partially open position. 

1. In a cabinet construction, the combination comprising: a cabinet frame defining an opening; a drawer; a pair of spaced horizontally elongated guide tracks carried by said frame to extend rearwardly within said frame from adjacent opposite sides of said opening, said guide tracks having vertically spaced upper and lower guide flanges; a first pair of drawer supporting rollers fixed to opposite sides of said drawer in axial alignment and adjacent a rear end thereof, said rollers of said first pair being arranged to bear downwardly one against each of said lower flanges; a pair of leaf devices hingedly secured to said drawer one adjacent each rear end corner thereof for pivotal movements in opposite directions about parallel vertically disposed axes between first and second positions, each said leaf device carrying first and second follower rollers, each of said first follower rollers being mounted for rotation about a vertically disposed axis, each of said second follower rollers being mounted for rotation about a horizontally disposed axis and arranged to bear upwardly against one of said upper flanges when said leaf devices are in said second position for thereafter constraining forward and downward tilting of said drawer; horizontally disposed trackway means fixed to said frame and cooperating with said first follower rollers for pivoting said leaf devices between said first position in which said leaf devices are disposed to extend transversely of said drawer when in closed position and said second position in which said leaf devices are disposed to extend rearwardly of said drawer when in at least partially open position, said first follower rollers being disposed adjacent a mid-point of said trackway means when said drawer is in said closed position and being moved apart towards opposite ends of said trackway means upon opening of said drawer into said partially open position, said trackway means additionally defining a pair of extension trackways extending forwardly one from each of said opposite ends parallel to said guide tracks for guidingly receiving said first follower rollers whereby to constrain said leaf devices in said second position thereof during continued opening movement of said drawer beyond said partially open position; and further means for supporting portions of said drawer forwardly of said rear end thereof relative to said frame at least during opening movements of said drawer occasioning movement of said leaf devices from said first to said second position thereof, said further means including a second pair of drawer supporting rollers carried by said frame in axial alignment adjacent forwardly extending ends of said guide tracks for engagement with said drawer, and the rollers of said first and second pairs being aligned in the direction of drawer movements, whereby the extent of said continued opening movement of said drawer beyond said partially open position is determined by engagement of the rollers of said first pair with the rollers of said second pair.
 2. A device according to claim 1, wherein each said leaf device includes spring means tending to bias its associated leaf device from said second into said first position thereof.
 3. A cabinet construction according to claim 1, wherein said drawer includes side, bottom, front and rear walls, at least said rear walls being formed separately of the other of said walls and being fixed adjacent horizontally opposite ends thereof at least to said side walls adjacent rear ends thereof, said leaf devices being hingedly secured to said drawer by a pair of hinge means each including a first hinge part formed integrally with one of said opposite ends of said rear wall, second hinge part formed integrally with one of said leaf devices and hinge pin for joiniNg said first and second hinge parts, and each of said hinge means carries a coil spring tending to bias its associated leaf device from said second into said first position thereof.
 4. In a cabinet construction, in combination comprising: a cabinet frame defining an opening; a drawer, said drawer having downwardly facing support ledges extending outwardly and lengthwise of its opposite side walls; a pair of spaced horizontally elongated guide tracks carried by said frame to extend rearwardly within said frame from adjacent opposite sides of said opening, said guide tracks being of U-shaped configuration and having vertically spaced upper and lower guide flanges; a first pair of drawer supporting rollers fixed to opposite sides of said drawer in axial alignment and adjacent a rear end thereof, said rollers of said first pair being arranged to bear downwardly one against each of said lower flanges; a pair of leaf devices hingedly secured to said drawer one adjacent each rear end corner thereof for pivotal movements in opposite directions about parallel vertically disposed axes between first and second positions, each said leaf devices carrying first and second followers, said second followers being second follower rollers mounted for rotation about a horizontally disposed axis and arranged to bear upwardly against one of said upper flanges when said leaf devices are in said second position for thereafter constraining forward and downward tilting of said drawer; horizontally disposed trackway means fixed to said frame and cooperating with said first followers for pivoting said leaf devices between said first position in which said leaf devices are disposed to extend transversely of said drawer when in closed position and said second position in which said leaf devices are disposed to extend rearwardly of said drawer when in at least partially open position, said first followers being disposed adjacent a mid-point of said trackway means when said drawer is in said closed position and being moved apart towards opposite ends of said trackway means upon opening of said drawer into said partially open position, said trackway means additionally defining a pair of extension trackways extending forwardly one from each of said opposite ends parallel to said guide tracks for guidingly receiving said first followers whereby to constrain said leaf devices in said second position thereof during continued opening movement of said drawer beyond said partially open position; a second pair of drawer supporting rollers carried by said frame in axial alignment and adjacent forwardly extending ends of said guide tracks for under-engaging said support ledges, said support ledges being disposed vertically above said upper guide flanges, said rollers of said first and second pairs being aligned in the direction of drawer movements, whereby the extent of said continued opening movement of said drawer beyond said partially open position is determined by engagement of the rollers of said first pair with the rollers of said second pair; and spring means tending to continuously bias said leaf devices from said second position into said first position thereof, whereby said first followers are caused to bear against said trackway means including said extension trackways to constrain yawing of said drawer during opening and closing movements thereof and to bias said drawer towards closed position for positions thereof intermediate said closed position and said partially open position. 